I currently have a Westell 7500 and have been trying to connect an Asus AC68U to extend the range and speed of my wireless access in the house. I followed the instructions provided on the Verizon site to put the Westell into bridge mode and after disconnecting the DHCP I was unable to access the internet through any of my devices, either wireless or through ethernet. I had to reset the Westell manually in order regain access. Any thoughts on what I am doing wrong?
If the ASUS is being set to run as a Wireless Extender, rather than replacing the router functions of the Westell 7500 all together, then leave the Westell 7500 configured as-is.
What you should do is configure the Westell 7500 for WPA2-AES Security, as this is both the most secure, and allows the ASUS to work it's best. Also, make sure to set the Wireless channel on the Westell to either 1, 6, or 11, instead of auto. Auto selection can cause problems including total drops of your wireless connection!
When setting up the ASUS, you'll be asked if you want to put the router in Router mode, AP mode, or Repeater mode. Select Repeater mode, then enter in your Westell 7500's Wireless information. Afterwards the ASUS should be rolling.
If you plan to use a better form of extending Wireless, which is by running Ethernet cable, set the ASUS to AP mode instead. Then, configure the SSID and Security settings on the ASUS to match your Westell 7500, BUT select the channel for 2.4Ghz to be different from the Westell 7500. It should again be either Channel 1, 6, or 11. The 5Ghz channel should be set to the default of "Auto" but you may want to set it to Channel 139 to lock it in place, should you encounter issues with the 5Ghz.
The only time you set your Westell 7500 to Bridge mode, is if you plan to run the Westell as only a modem, not as a modem and router. If you do it this way, you'll bridge the Westell, then connect the ASUS's Internet port up to the LAN 1 port of the Westell, and then configure the ASUS using the setup wizard. The ASUS should detect PPPoE as the connection, and prompt for your Verizon account login information to complete the connection. The only exception to this is if you're in a rare ex-GTE area, where Verizon uses DHCP instead of PPPoE. If you use DHCP, you will have to leave the modem off overnight, release the IP lease from the Westell before bridging it, or call tech support and request your DHCP lease to be broken.
Hope this helps.
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